A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Minneapolis: DL DM charter 2.3MM
Programs: A3*Gold, SPG Plat, HyattDiamond, MarriottPP, LHW exAccess, ICI, Raffles Amb, NW PE MM, TWA Gold MM
Posts: 100,369
It's not inappropriate to ask to see the bottle, but I've also sent back glasses of sparkling wine that I could tell were the ground junk and not the real French stuff I had specified. Some FAs claim not to know the difference or that ground and air "champagne" are different, but others are just too lazy to open the bottle.
I'll sometimes ask for French red etc. if the cart with wine isn't at my seat as it seems less confusing (and less likely to lead to mistakes) than asking for it by some long name in a foreign language.